Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / Factors influencing the adoption of smartphones are not known in South Africa. Smartphone adoption globally is currently measured as being around forty-seven percent of all mobile phone users, with an expectation that it will be around the fifty per cent mark by 2017. Most of this growth will come from markets that are highly price-sensitive, and low-cost smartphones will allow users to shift from feature phones to smartphones, or they may skip the step of buying a feature phone altogether and upgrade directly to a smartphone. With one of the fastest growing smartphone adoption rates in the world. Primary data was collected using an online survey tool, and four hundred and twenty-six responses to the survey were collected. The survey instrument was designed to collect information regarding the smartphone attributes and features that are most pertinent to the smartphone purchasing decision. The research also profiled how consumers were currently using their mobile devices from a time and frequency perspective. This was done through descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the sample data. The research adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with three added constructs from the literature, being Entertainment, Security and Privacy, and Social Networking. The objective of the research, therefore, was to test the relationship of these constructs in relation to smartphone adoption by the sample collected. Inspection of the data was done through multiple logistic regression on respondent’s current adoption status of smartphones. Only PU (Perceived Usefulness) was measured to be significant after inferential statistical analysis, but this proved to have only minor influence on the overall multiple regression equation of the research. Entertainment was statistically not significant in the research, but was measured as very close to significance whenusing a confidence level alpha of 0.05. The application of the TAM model with added constructs proved to be successful, although the added constructs did not result in significance of the associated sample data. Respondents indicated that smartphone features such as battery life and the affordability of data were the most important to them in the decision of purchasing a smartphone. The descriptive data did reveal differing adoption trends among different race groups within South Africa, and it is recommended that this phenomenon be explored in further detail in future research.

A research report submitted to the faculty of commerce, law and management, university of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of management in Strategic Marketing. / Globally there has been a decrease in fixed line telephones while Smartphone sales have been on the rise; the same trend has also been happening in South Africa. Due to this trend, Smartphone brands have been placing importance on the retention of existing customers, therefore focusing on repurchase intentions. The research investigates the relationship between experiential marketing (sense, feel, think, act and relate experience), customer satisfaction and the repurchase intentions of Smartphones amongst the youth market of South Africa. The paper reviews literature on experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions, then tests six hypotheses which were proposed which led to the development of a research model. Non-probability sampling was used at The University of the Witwatersrand where the study was conducted amongst 223 youth aged 15 – 35 years. Structural equational modelling was used to analyse the data, using SPSS and Amos software. The results revealed sense experience has the most influence on the customer satisfaction of Smartphone brands which then leads to repurchase intentions. The findings are expected to add to literature on experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions as well as provide practical implications. / GR2018

M. Tech. Textile Design and Technology / Outside the classroom, students constantly interact with technologies such as smartphones, iPods the Internet and social networking sites this study has identified that these technologies can support learning both in and outside of the classroom. Through the use of a case study, 95 visual media students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) were approached. Three paper-based questions were administered to establish the following: What type of access do students have to different types of technologies outside of class? What number of students engage with social media for personal use? What types of educational technologies are lecturers currently using inside and outside their classrooms? This study found that visual media students at TUT are active social media users. They are enthusiastic towards efforts of integrating smartphones and social media as teaching tools for learning. Visual media students are competent at using digital editing, imaging and electronic presentation software, but lack the skills and knowledge to use online collaboration and journaling tools. Lastly, at TUT course related communication is still mainly face-to-face due to that fact that infrastructure upgrades such as in-class Wi-Fi networks are needed. IV 21st century education recognises that learning takes place in various settings (physical and virtual) and not just in the classroom. In a rapidly globalised society, smartphones and social media as teaching tools for visual media students at TUT may possibly offer an affordable and accessible medium to equip students to be able to make local and global connections.

Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master Of Technology: Marketing, Durban University Of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The classical view that an industry is a customer-satisfying process and not a goods-producing process is vital for all businesses to understand. Today the mobile industry have produced a smartphone which represents a dramatic departure from traditional computing platforms as they no longer represent a static notion of context, where changes are absent, small or predictable. Therefore, today’s industries need to begin the production process with customer’s needs and not with patents, raw materials, products or selling skills. With this view rather, an organisation can only create the environment and the circumstances in which the consumer could have an experience. Furthermore, an organisation cannot grant an experience to the consumer in isolation. In seeking to expand an understating of the above classical view, this study inquired into customer experience derived from owing and using the most decorated product of the era, that is, the smartphone. The essence of this study aimed at investigating customer experience by studying smartphone usage from the students’ perspective. It studied the gap between students’ expectation and the subsequent experiences in order to determine satisfaction levels. Furthermore, cognitive dissonance was investigated to determine if there were any remorse feelings towards the smartphone. A descriptive study was employed with a quantitative inquiry and the survey used the convenience sampling method. A questionnaire was administered to students within the Durban University of Technology (DUT) fraternity. The Statistical Package for Social Science Software (SPSS) version 21 was used to analyse and to interpret the data. The key findings of the study indicate that South African university students (DUT) have positive experiences with the smartphones. Albeit, the findings indicate positive experiences, minimal presence of cognitive dissonance is also depicted. The presence of dissonance highlights that an idea cannot have a single measure which is universally meaningful. Therefore, the study expose that every product will always be exposed to suggestions of change, no matter how it can be deemed smart. / M

Smartphone technology can be integrated in mathematics education, since most learners immerse in this technology. Teachers should be facilitators of confined learning in traditional classrooms, including digital facilitators. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of integrating smartphone technology on Grade 10 learners’ achievement in algebra. The study focused on two Grade 10 classes from different township schools in the Gauteng Province. The study was conducted during the first term of 2016. A quasi-quantitative experimental research design was used. Smartphones were integrated in algebra teaching and learning, using the Microsoft Math online application: https://www.math.microsoft.com. Despite challenges encountered during the study, the results indicated a positive impact on learners’ achievements in algebra, amongst experimental group learners. A need exists for future research in integrating smartphone technology in mathematics education. / Mathematics Education / M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

The use of cellphones has increased all over the world. That invites many academics to conduct research on the usage of these devices, especially by young people, since young people join Social Network Sites (Facebook, Mxit, 2go, Whatsapp) and use a shorthand language. Most studies are related to the use of English and other languages that are recognised by computer software. There are few studies, if any, that have been done in relation to the use of African Languages on these sites. This research therefore aims to seek to explore the use of African Languages, especially isiXhosa, in assessing how technology might help in language development through the usage of SNSs that learners already use to equip them with educational material in their mother tongue. This study was conducted in two high schools, Nogemane Senior Secondary School in a disadvantaged and remote rural community with limited access to additional educational material such as magazines, newspapers, and television. The school also lacks basic study materials such as textbooks from the Education Department and they have no access to a library and laboratory. They also only have very few subjects to choose from. Nombulelo Senior Secondary School is in Grahamstown. This school has good infrastructure and learners have access to different technological devices and they can access libraries. What is common between learners in both schools is that they are all doing isiXhosa as a first language and are using SNSs to interact with each other. This study has found that learners enjoy using SNSs rather than reading the printed books. Furthermore, they enjoy and prefer interacting in isiXhosa in their conversations. Learners also use the web to post and show their creative writing, regardless of the shorthand form writing they use on the SNSs. This study has found that learners are not well equipped with basic isiXhosa skills when reaching the FET phase. They lack the understanding of standard isiXhosa idioms and proverbs. That clearly means that they are equipped in the more modern forms of literature rather than the traditional oral forms. IsiXhosa teachers also see SNSs as the better platform to engage with learners and they suggest that there must be a section in the subjects at school that teaches about cyber bullying and being safe online. This thesis also presents examples of new and contemporary forms of SNS-speak that are used by learners in both the rural and urban schools. This study is more concerned with SNSs for literacy development and to assess whether the shorthand writing has negative or positive effects in writing isiXhosa. This is done against the backdrop of a literature review which explores new literacies, computer mediated communication, social identity models as well as language policy and planning.